You're Safe With Me
by Potterjays
Summary: New York is a very lonely city, Peeta Mellark knows this best. When he spots a girl, Katniss Everdeen, from a far he accepts that he will never see her again. As he tries to go about his life as normal he becomes more infatuated with the girl he's seen once and goes out to try and find her. Everlark AU, dark themes, swearing and sexual scenes. ENJOY!
1. Shake Shack

I hate finishing up at work early. It's 8:30pm and everything at the bakery is ready for Johanna tomorrow morning. Sometimes I think it was a curse inheriting that bakery in Hell's Kitchen, but hey, at least im away from my abusive mother who lives in Long Island. The only reason I believe it may be a curse is because the hours are awfully lonely. It also doesn't help that I live in one of the loneliest cities in the world, New York. I have few friends here and my family is scattered around the country. Johanna was my first friend here; she was the first to apply for a job at the bakery so I hired her immediately. She is also my roommate in the small two room apartment above the bakery. Her boyfriend Gale is an assistant musical director or something like that. He has his own, much larger place but Johanna is one of the most stubborn people you will ever meet so he's often over at our place. I've lost count of the number of times I've walked in on them having sex on the couch; it has become such a common occurrence they don't even stop if I walk in on them.

I'm not ready to go upstairs just yet, mainly because I don't want to deal with a sexually frustrated Johanna. Gale has just started work on his first major Broadway production, this could be his big break so he has been working a lot more than usual and hasn't been able to satisfy Johanna as often. I swear if that girl goes one day without sex shit hits the fan, unlike me it's been several months and I'm fine I mean I wouldn't mind it but I remain unfazed. Gale tries to set me up with actors and extras from the musicals his working on all the time but I normally shut him down before he can even utter their name.

I decide to walk around the corner to the Shake Shack and grab a meal instead of going home to eat real food. I grab my bag and lock up behind me then carefully head down the icy stoops before heading left. The unfortunate thing about New York in the winter is that it rarely snows but ice is everywhere. I've slipped down the stairs countless times; I'm pretty clumsy and heavy footed. On my way to Shake Shack I walk past Haymitch, a homeless drunk who has set up camp a few houses down from the bakery. I often bring him old bread and throw him a few dollars here and there, on New Year's Eve we even shared a disgusting bottle of supermarket vodka. I was having a pity party for myself that night and found comfort in Haymitch's wisdom. Barking mad but clever that man is. He was sleeping when I passed him just now so I sat a bagel I was saving down next to his head. I have plenty more where that came from.

I continue walking and speed up a little when I see my destination in sight, I didn't realise how hungry I was till now. As I break the threshold of the fast food joint my stomach growls from the smell of grease. I walk straight up to the counter and order a large meal with a peanut butter shake, I'm going to feel gross in about an hour but I don't care so I add an ice cream on to my meal. For some reason it's really quite for a Saturday night so my meal takes mere seconds to prepare and I take a seat down next to the window. I down my food and dessert in minutes, an action I immediately regret. I feel as though if I move I'll throw up so I stay seated and pull out a book from my bag and start reading from where I left off. I'm struck by the thought of how weird this probably looks to other customers and people passing by, people don't usually pull out books and start reading in fast food joints, especially the Shake Shack off Times Square, but you know stranger things have happened. I make myself comfortable in the rigid plastic chair and begin to get lost in my book.

* * *

I'm unaware of how much time has passed when I look up again. The place has become crowed with young drunk people, I didn't even notice them come in. After a quick glance at my phone I see that its 11pm. Shit, where did the time go? I'm surprised I haven't been asked to leave yet. I pack my book away and tuck my chair in and head for the door when I'm instantly dumbfounded by a girl sitting by herself just beyond the door. If I had a type, she would be it. Her long brown hair hung over her shoulders and her big grey eyes lost in thought staring off into space. She must be waiting for someone. I quickly realise I'm staring; I duck my head and dash out the door praying to god that she didn't catch me checking her out. No, that's not what I was doing; I was admiring her… equally as creepy, good one Peeta.

On my way home I begin to question why I didn't go talk to her, I'm not usually a shy person but this girl had me running to the door. Fuck, I should have at least given her my number or something! I'm an idiot, and the worst thing is I'll never see her again. This is New York, you hardly ever see the same person twice and if you do it's safe to assume you're being stalked. I don't dwell in it too much though, she was most likely waiting for someone. I'll forget about her by tomorrow morning anyway no big deal. I'm ripped from my thoughts when my phone starts ringing, I take my phone from my pocket and look at the caller, Gale.  
"Hey man." I answer the phone  
"Hey bro, are you still at the bakery?" He replies in an urgent tone  
"Nar, just grabbed a bite to eat. I'm heading back now though, what did you need?" I don't dwell on the fact that my bite to eat lasted about two hours, he would definitely think I was out with someone  
"Do you think you would be able to come and get me? I don't want to wake Johanna and the trains are down" He seems desperate, probably been trying to find a lift for a while  
"Yeah no problem man, where are you?" Please don't be far please don't be far  
"The rehearsal hall in Brooklyn" I let out a deep sigh and reply in a somewhat annoyed tone,  
"Yeah, sure. Give me like 45"  
"Thanks bro! You're the best! I owe you big time" Now his excited.

I hang up and start digging around for my keys, normal people don't own cars in the city and neither do I. I own a big ass van with the words 'Mellarks Bakery' printed on the side with an image of some bread, we were very lucky with the van as there is a parking garage across the street and the owner set up a deal where we can keep the van there in exchange for free bread for him and the employees whenever they wanted. As I climb into the driver's seat of the van we only really use for deliveries I internally curse Gale for having some kind of weird aversion to buses and taxis. This isn't the first time I've had to pick him up and it certainly won't be the last. He was right about waking Johanna though; waking her is like asking for a kick in the balls and a slap up the back of the head.

Soon I arrive at the rehearsal hall in Brooklyn, after navigating through the concrete maze that is this city. I pull up next to the curb and Gale who is standing by himself quickly jumps in the passenger side of the van and slams the door closed. He breathes a sigh of relief and looks at me, smiles and says 'hey'. I don't think he realises how inconvenient this is for me, I simply nod at him and start driving back towards Manhattan. He starts babbling on about the production his working on and how there are so many girls he could set me up with. I tell him I'm not interested but he keeps going, I swear his trying to live vicariously through me in regards to girls even though his with Joanna.

I pull into the car park and turn off the van, turn to Gale and blurt out  
"Look man, I appreciate the interest in my love life but please stop! I'm not interested in any of your actor sluts, never have been never will be. If I never want you to set me up I'll ask okay?"  
He looks stunned by my outburst but simply replies "It's been a long night bro, let's just head upstairs"  
We get out of the van and I slam my door and walk ahead of him, pull out my keys and unlock the doors to the bakery. I wait for him to get inside so I can lock the door behind him; he heads straight for the stairs at the back of the bakery and whispers good night before ascending to Joanna's room. I don't reply, Its 1:30am by this point and I just want to go to bed. I climb the stairs and make a bee line for my room, I flop on the bed and pull off my shoes, undress down to my underwear and climb under the cover. My room is nothing interesting, just a blue square with a double bed in the middle surrounded by some band posters and paintings.

I look out the window to the hazy dark orange sky that will never be black due to city lights and let my mind wander until I think about the girl from the Shake Shack and my mind is suddenly buzzing with thoughts about her, I know I won't get to sleep for ages now so I pull out a notebook from my night stand and begin doodling her large grey eyes. I eventually fall asleep with the pen still in my hand and the notebook fallen to the floor. With my last ounce of conscience I internally wish to be over this girl I don't even know the name of in the morning. I have a feeling the odds won't be in my favour with that wish.


	2. The Hunger Games

When I wake up the next morning I feel as though I haven't slept for one minute and for a brief moment there I almost can't remember why until I see the drawings strewn around my room and on my bed. They depict a girl with long hair and eyes lost in a day dream. Fuck, this sucks. I pick up my phone and notice I have 3 unread text messages, all from Gale apologizing about last night. I ignore them for now not really in the mood to be forgiving. I also notice that it's around half past 10 which means my shift down at the bakery begins soon, good; it's something to keep my mind off her.

I make my way to the tiny kitchen Johanna and I share, open the fridge and notice its empty except for a jar of olives. You've got to be kidding me! I don't really feel like going out anywhere for food or even restocking the fridge so I just throw on my work clothes and head down stairs to hang with Jo for a while before work and maybe have a bagel or two. I make a mental note to also ask her to clean the apartment, its small but I'll never understand how one girl can make it so messy!

When I descend the stairs Jo is serving a customer so I hang back and wait for her to finish. When she is sorting out the change into the till I sneak up behind her, grab her shoulders and scream 'BOO' she jumps so high her head almost hits the roof. I fall to the ground laughing my head off while she just stands there with her classic Johanna look, I'm defiantly going to pay for that later.  
"What the actual fuck do you think you're doing loser?!" She yells at me while going to the bench to start decorating the cupcakes  
"Just having a bit of fun Jo, lighten up would you?"  
"Maybe you should take some of your own advice, Gale said you were a bit frosty last night. No pun intended" she replied while holding up the bag of light purple frosting.  
"Maybe if your boyfie wasn't afraid of public transportation with tyres we wouldn't have a problem now would we?"  
"Come on loser, I know when something's up with you, you were up wee hours of the morning scribbling something in your notebook. Spit it out already"  
"How did you know that?"  
"Believe it or not but girls do take late night shits loser" she laughs  
"Gross Jo! You don't want to hear about my issues anyway"  
"I know you're going to tell me eventually so might as well do it now" She pushes the cupcakes over to me and nods at them silently telling me to finish the job while I tell her what's wrong.

I explain everything about the girl while never looking up from the cupcakes. I tell her what she looked like and every little detail my mind had time to take in. I explain how I can get this girl off my mind and how it's got me on edge. When I'm done I look up and see Jo sitting on the counter her brows knitted in confusion nodding slightly  
"And now I don't know what to do…" I try to prompt her to say something. "Any ideas?"  
"Let it go dude" She replies after an extended silence. "I mean what are the chances of seeing her again 1 in about 5 million? Maybe more? I think you should just get Gale to set you up on a few dates, try and move on"  
"Yeah alright" I reply with a defeated voice.  
"Look loser, take the afternoon off. I'll stay and finish up the afternoon shift, go take a walk or something" On that note I dash back up the stairs and get changed into a pair of jeans and a heavy jacket.

That's one of the best things about Jo, she doesn't beat around the bush or fuck around, and she gets straight to the point and tells you exactly how it is. She hasn't been wrong yet so I trust her with her judgement no matter how soul destroying it is. I grab my phone and headphones and head down the stairs while slipping the headphones on, I wave to Jo and walk out the door. I start making random turns at every corner, this continues till it gets dark out.

* * *

Somehow I wind up at the Shake Shack although I'm not hungry in the slightest. I'm not even quite sure how I ended up here, I take a seat in the same spot as last time I was here and stare at the spot where she sat. I start thinking about what I would say if she walked in right now, I would probably try to be charming and endearing but end up tripping over my words. Then I start thinking of all the ways I could try and find her if I really wanted to. I have a very clear image in my mind of what she was wearing; maybe I could hang around the shops where she got those clothes with the very small chance of running into her.

I start to recall what she was wearing, a greenish tank top and a brown leather jacket with loose fitting cord jeans and high brown boots. Something about the outfit didn't scream everyday outfit. Actually now that I think about it, it wasn't an outfit at all. It seemed like a costume, but why would she be in a fast food joint in a costume? Halloween was months ago, maybe it was for a party or something. Oh god this is so hopeless and I'm starting to feel a bit like a stalker. Johanna's right, I need to stop being such an idiot and get over this girl. Fuck. How am I going to do that?

Jo suggested going on a blind date with one of the many girls Gale has been trying to set me up with for longer than I care to remember. Last time I did that he set me up with a Broadway slut named Glimmer, she was very attractive but damn was she stupid and boring. I don't think I could stand another several hours hanging out with a girl who only wants to talk about herself. But honestly I don't think I have much of a choice, it's not like I've been going out with the soul intention of meeting women. Being a baker is a very demanding job with little time for a personal life let alone a love life. I think it only works for Jo and Gale because they are both free and get off work really late at night so that's when they spend time together. I also think if they did spend any more time together they would rip each other's head off.

Okay that's it. I'm going to do this. I get out of my seat and determinedly walk for the door when I'm stopped in my tracks. A little girl looks up at me; her face looks like she's examining me. Her brows are furrowed together and her lips are slightly pursed. She's not being subtle at all but then again neither am I. Something about her is familiar, I think I've seen this girl before and by the look on her face I think she knows me from somewhere too. But at the same time I don't think I've ever seen this person, she has long blonde hair, blue eyes and couldn't be more than 16. It's just something about the face that looks familiar, the way she carries herself too.  
"Prim! Over here!" I hear someone call out from behind me in a booth. She tears her gaze away from me and looks over towards the person calling her name then back to me for one more quick second before ducking her head and going into the store. That would defiantly have to be one of the weirdest doorway interactions I've had. There is definitely something about her that I've seen before I just can't put my finger on it.

I decide to brush it off and head home, I have no idea what that was about but I would rather not dwell on it, I've got enough on my mind already. I'm almost home when I spot Haymitch sitting in his little nook his made for himself picking at a donut. Jo must have brought him down some left overs, I'm pretty sure he sells most of what we give him for alcohol.  
"Ahh, Boy! Just the person I was waiting for!" He shouts at me, it's very obvious his drunk.  
"Hey Haymitch, what's up?" I reply in a apprehensive tone, last time he wanted to talk to me I ended up passed out in the gutter drunk out of my mind.  
"I sense you are having a few issues of late, am I wrong?" His speech is slurred so I can barely make out what his saying.  
"No, you're not wrong. Just a few girl issues, nothing too major"  
"Boy! The last time I saw you walk past here with a lady friend was months ago! It's a major issue, take a seat boy." I sit down on one of his blankets next to him and prepare myself for a long night of Haymitch wisdom.  
"With the lady's boy, patience is key. It's like a bottle of scotch, the longer you let it sit the better it will come out tasting"  
"That makes no sense but okay Haymitch I'll let the ladies sit." He lets out a deep sigh.  
"Not what I meant boy! Love is about serendipity, if you go out trying to find it you won't but if you go out intending to buy your good friend Haymitch the said bottle of scotch you will find it." For a crazy homeless man, he can come out with some big words and wisdom.  
"Yeah, I'll be sure to do that. Look I gotta get home, I'll bring you some bagels in the morning."  
"Righto boy, see ya later. And remember serendipity" Haymitch seems to pass out right after slurring out those words.

I unlock the doors of the bakery and see that everything is clean and set up for tomorrow. As I walk further in I notice a post-it note stuck to the counter. I head towards the stairs where the light is so I can read it, I have no idea what I'm expecting but I'm suddenly very anxious.

_Hey loser,  
Everything is set up for tomorrow.  
You owe me big time for doing this  
whole day. I'll be back to do the  
shift in the afternoon. You have  
morning. BTW Gale has a date  
for you tomorrow night. He will  
text you with the details.  
Jo._

Fuck. I didn't even tell Gale or Jo that I wanted to be set up. I guess they just assumed seeing as I 9 times out of 10 will go along with what Jo says I should do. When I get into the apartment I can hear them in Jo's room, that's different normally they are on the couch but I guess Jo will be going to sleep soon having worked the whole day. I head to the fridge and grab out a beer and make myself comfortable on the couch. Just as I'm settling in to some really lame TV show Gale appears and grabs a beer for himself and sits down next to me.  
"Hey man" he says to me while opening his beer  
"Hey, I hear you got me a date, that was fast" I reply wanted to get as much information out of him as possible before tomorrow.  
"Yeah man, met her today. Seemed pretty eager so I think he might be easy" he nudges and winks at me.  
"Oh goody" I reply with fake enthusiasm.  
"Nah bro, she's hot as shit and is the understudy for the main lead in my musical." I mull this over in my mind for a few minutes. This is what Gale says about all the girls he tries to set me up on but for some reason I feel nervous about this date. We sit there together just watching TV for a while in silence, I assume Jo has fallen asleep. When the show has finished Gale grabs our empty bottles and throws then in the bin. On the way back to our rooms he says goodnight and I reply in kind, but just as he's closing the door I turn around and ask,  
"What's the name of the musical you're working on anyway?" genuinely interested. The type of musical this girl is in can tell me a lot about her. Gale didn't give me too much information; he likes to keep me in suspense.  
"The Hunger Games" He replies simply, then closes the door.


	3. Soup Man

The sound of my phone blaring out an alarm is what I wake up to the next morning. Its 4:30am but this is the bakers life, I quietly pad out to the kitchen and take a swig from the milk bottle before quickly jumping in the shower and changing into my work uniform and heading down stairs to start up the shop. When I head down stairs and open the curtains of the shop I notice that the sun is shining and the ice on the stoops is melting, this instantly puts a smile on my face.

As I get stuck into moulding the dough into shapes for the bread and bagels, I start thinking about how I ended up in New York. I grew up in Long Island with my parents and two brothers, my mother is a straight up bitch I'll gladly be the first to admit that. My father on the other hand is one of the greatest men you will ever meet, he is so loving and supportive I have no idea how he ended up with such a horrible women, he has always been really closed up about how they met and ended up together but I never pushed the topic. My brothers are a strange mix of both my parents sometimes like my dad and sometimes like my mother, whereas I am like my dad 100%. My oldest brother lives in LA and has opened up a bakery there and also has a small acting career on the side, my other brother who is the middle child is up in Florida also with a bakery. I'm the youngest child and decided that New York was the place I wanted to be, no particular reason why I always felt drawn to the lifestyle here, being surrounded with culture is something I love.

Soon enough all the bread and pastries are done and in the display boxes and its 7:00am, time to open the shop. Luckily there were no deliveries today or I would have been up much earlier. Just as I unlock the door and put up the open sign my phone goes off. I jump over the counter and see that I have a message from Gale.

_Hey bro, so I got you a hot date for tonight. Meet her at Soup Man at like 7:30 then bring her back to my place after. I'm throwing a party with everyone from the musical, see you there!_

Soup Man? Really? That's a strange place for a date. Oh well I'm not exactly too fussed about this date anyway, the party at Gales after should be fun though. For some reason Gales parties just have the best vibe and everyone really gets into them. I suddenly become nervous about the date, this is the first time I've felt this way about a date especially a date that Gale has set me up on. I dunno, something just feels different about tonight.

Time goes by quite fast at the bakery today and Jo comes down while I'm decorating the cupcakes for the afternoon and props herself up on the counter.  
"Been busy?" She asks while stuffing her face with a donut.  
"Yeah, not too bad. Are you going to Gales after work?"  
"Sure am loser. Oh by the way last night a girl came in looking for a job, she was young but I guess she could work after school and weekends and stuff."  
"Damn it Jo! I told you don't just go giving out jobs to people unless I meet them and interview them" God this girl pisses me off sometimes.  
"Stop getting so antsy! I told her to come back next week geez"  
"Sorry Jo, I'm a bit nervous about this date. I don't know why"  
"You'll be fine loser, go get ready." On that note I head up stairs to my room and take a look in my closet for an outfit.

Unfortunately I don't exactly fit into the typical New York demographic of guys. Most the guys around here my age are tall and lanky where as I am still quite tall but broadly built which can make it difficult to find button up shirts and things like that. But after about 15 minutes of searching I eventually find a shirt and pants to wear, casual formal is the best way to go since we're going to a party after wards.

At about 7pm I gather up the things I'm going to need for the night and grab a bottle of wine out of the fridge that has been in there for god knows how long, it's probably aged very well by now. On my way out I say goodbye to Jo and jump in a cab and head to Soup Man. I start sweating a little bit in the cab which could be because I'm nervous or because the taxi driver has the heat way up in here. I think it's a mix of both. It won't be bad at all, it's just a date I mean I might not even like her or she may be the person I'm supposed to end up with and this could be the start of our life together. Oh my god now I'm just being ridiculous, I know for a fact the women I'm supposed to meet won't be through Gale.

When I arrive at the place I pay the driver and walk inside, Gale always makes reservations no matter the scale of the place so I ask for a table under his name at the door and I get directed to a table by a staff member. She's not here yet which is good news for me, it means I get some time to prepare some opening lines. After about 10 minutes I hear a person at the door ask for a table under the name Gale, I resist temptation and refuse to look up until she is about half way here. Footsteps, I hear footsteps. She's almost here. When I gauge that she's about half way I look up and see my date for the first time.

I immediately stand up and walk over to her chair to pull it out for her; while I'm waiting I get a moment to take her all in. Tan skin, long brown hair and piercing blue eyes. I extend my hand and introduce myself, "Hi, I'm Peeta" my voice tremors slightly.  
"Hi Peeta! I'm Madge!" She sounds very excited and upbeat.

Our conversation throughout the night is very light hearted and pretty nice. I tell her about myself, how I'm a baker and about my business. She has a lot to say about herself, she tells me about the musical, how she got into acting, she makes a point of telling me that her hair is actually blonde and she has only dyed it for the auditions and is keeping it brown until the production is over in case she is needed for her understudy duties.

When we order I ask why she chose Soup Man for our date. She explains that she didn't chose it, the girl who plays the lead was with her when Gale asked Madge is go out with me and she suggested the restaurant for the date.  
"Yeah!" she laughs "My mind was in such a rush I just agreed with her, very nice girl but also a bit strange" she continues laughing.

The rest of our date goes off without a hitch. Madge is a very funny upbeat person and I like her a lot. We exchange numbers before agreeing it's time to head off to Gales party. While we are in the cab driving to Gale's loft, I find myself staring out the window thinking about my future with Madge. I look over to her and catch her looking at me, we exchange smiles and I wonder if she's thinking about the same thing I am. It's ridiculous to be thinking about these types of things of a first date, I mean I hardly even know her despite all the information I found out about her at dinner. She is defiantly not one to keep mystery; I scold myself internally for even thinking about any of this type of stuff on a first date. I know that if things don't work out between Madge and I we can always be great friends.

Soon enough we arrive at the party after a pretty quiet cab ride. Madge smiles at me and links our arms and I oblige leading her up to the door. Gale buzzes us in and we then head to the elevator. On the way up Madge asks me about my family. I'm a bit taken aback by this question and I don't really know what to tell her.  
"My family is scattered all over the place, I have two brothers and they live in different states both older than me and that's about it" I reply as simply as I can, I don't really get into this stuff on a first date or at all for that matter.  
"And your parents?" she asks as the elevator continues to ascend.

Just as I start to answer the elevator door opens and we are faced with loud music and a wall of people, the elevator opens right up into Gale's foyer and it would be impossible to answer her question even if I wanted too. We are still linked arms when we walk in and just as we reach the kitchen to grab some drinks she pulls me down and shouts into my ear that she is going to go around and talk to some people. I know Gale invites directors and producers to these parties along with other actors so I can't blame her for wanted to go network. She tells me she had a great time tonight and that she will text me tomorrow. I shout back that I had a great time too and tell her to go enjoy herself.

She smiles widely as she walks away and just and I lose track of her in the sea of people Gale comes up with a massive smile on his face and gives me a pat on the back. I shake my head at him as he comes to lean on the counter next to me. It's very obvious he is drunk when he shouts in my ear  
"I hope the date went well bro! But just remember you aren't stuck with her! Look around! You're surrounded with drunken horny women! The world is your oyster!" I can only laugh at what he says and I push him away back into the crowd. He turns around and winks at me before disappearing.

I grab a beer from the fridge thinking about what he said. Even though I met Madge tonight it would be wrong to go around looking for other women to hook up with, although even if I did I don't think she would be too offended, she's too happy to be offended by anything I think. Tonight I'm pretty set on just having a good night and catching up with some friends I've met through Gale over the years.

As the night goes on the party get larger, the music gets louder and I haven't seen Madge since we got here. I have also had quite a few beers and am starting to get drunk. I have had a really good time catching up with people and just not worrying about anything for a few hours. As I make my way to the bathroom I realise how drunk I really am, I have to guide myself along the wall just to stay up straight. Soon enough I make my way to the bathroom and prop myself up against the wall as I pee.

On my way out, just as I open the door I am faced with a girl who was reaching for the handle. She looks up at me and takes in a sharp breath. I look at her and it takes my mind a few seconds to realise who it actually is. It's her! The girl from the shake shack! I don't know what over comes me but I immediately lean down and kiss her hard on the mouth, almost like my life depended on this. She snakes her arms around my neck and kisses me back.

She pulls back and mouths something that looks like 'I've been waiting for you'. Before I have a second to register what she just said she grabs my arm and pulls me away from our current standing point. I have no idea where she is taking me but I would follow her anywhere.

_To be continued_…


End file.
